This allows you to cover for your opponent if needed and you can always throw away cards. If you don't have a lot of bags, it may be good to bid 1 less than you think you can take.If the total of all bids exceeds this, then one team is guaranteed not to make their bid. There are only 13 tricks available to take. Keep an eye on what has already been bid by the time it gets to you.The team with the highest score wins! Strategy The game ends when any team reaches 500 points or falls to -200 points. A 'nil' bidder is on their own and so is their teammate in regards to making the bid. Note that if a 'nil' bidder fails and takes tricks, those tricks do NOT count towards the team goal. If a player who bid 'nil' fails and takes any tricks, then their team will lose 100 points.

If a player bid 'nil' and successfully does not take any tricks, then their team will gain 100 points. Every time a team accumulates 10 bags, that team will lose 100 points. Over the course of the game these bags accumulate. For example, if a team's combined bid is '5' and at the end of a hand they only took 4 tricks between the two of them, then they will lose 50 points.Īdditionaly, for every trick taken beyond what the team bid, that team will earn a 'bag'. If a team did not take enough tricks to meet their bid, they will lose 10 points per trick bid. Every trick taken beyond their bid is worth 1 point. If a team took at least as many tricks as they bid, they will gain 10 points per trick bid. ScoreĪfter each hand, scores are calculated for each team. This option is only available if it is impossible for anyone else to take any tricks due to the cards you have in your hand (such as A, K, Q, J of spades). This is just a way to make the game move along a bit quicker. Clicking it will give you all the remaining tricks. If it is guaranteed that your hand will win all remaining tricks, you will be presented with a TRAM button. This is known as 'trumping' and the Spades are considered a 'trump' suit. However, if a Spade is played on the trick, then the highest Spade card will win the trick instead. Normally the highest card with the same suit as the lead card wins the trick. From this point on players can lead Spades. The first time a Spade card is played is known as 'breaking spad es'. If they do not have a card with that suit, they may play any card (except on the first trick, in which you may not play Spades). Players must play a card with the same suit as the lead card. Whichever player played the highest card with the same suit as the lead card, takes the cards. The other players then each play a card in clockwise order until all 4 players have played a card. The start player starts the trick by playing any card from their hand, except Spades. If they take 1 or more tricks, they fail and their team will receive a penalty. If they succeed in not taking any tricks, their team scores a bonus. This player is saying that they will not take any tricks this hand. This is the number of tricks the team must take as a whole to avoid receiving negative points.Ī bid of 0 tricks is known as a 'nil' bid. Players may bid from 0 (nil) to 13 tricks.Įach team adds together the bids of each partner. They are bidding how many 'tricks' they think they can take. Starting with the start player and proceeding clockwise around the table, each player places a bid. The player to the dealer's left goes first. DealĪ random player is chosen to be the dealer.Įach player is dealt a hand of 13 cards from a standard deck of 52 cards. The objective is to be the first team to reach 500 points. There are two teams of two, with partners sitting across from each other.Ĭards are ranked from Ace (high) down to 2 (low). Spades is a 4 player 'trick taking' game.

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